Selling Homebrew Legally

[Cooper_Hayes]

Hey guys, first post and am a new member!

I currently make my own homebrew beer, I have let a few friends taste my beer as well as a few bar owners who have really liked it and are wanting to be able to buy and/or sell my beer, so I was wondering what I would need to do to be able to do that legally? I have read a bit online but am still unsure as there is a lot of contradicting information and not much information for Tasmania...
I will be brewing under 100,000 liters a year. I am just unsure about how to go about it... Would I be able to have some help please? As I don't really want to receive a fine or anything.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Hey guys, first post and am a new member!

I currently make my own homebrew beer, I have let a few friends taste my beer as well as a few bar owners who have really liked it and are wanting to be able to buy and/or sell my beer, so I was wondering what I would need to do to be able to do that legally? I have read a bit online but am still unsure as there is a lot of contradicting information and not much information for Tasmania...
I will be brewing under 100,000 liters a year. I am just unsure about how to go about it... Would I be able to have some help please? As I don't really want to receive a fine or anything.

Greetings Cooper, I would imagine you would have checked the State regulations, here is an article from Crafty Pint about starting up your own brewery.
https://craftypint.com/news/1202/Starting_A_Brewery_Part_I
Also Tasmania's small producers permit.
https://www.treasury.tas.gov.au/Documents/Smallproducerspermit.pdf

 

[MHB]

I think its fair to say you cant sell home brew legally without becoming a licenced brewery, then you stop being a home brewer and become a commercial brewer...….
That involves the ATO and your state and local government (I understand Tas is the easiest place to do this), biggest problem is that when the axe man cometh the cost of your home brew gets very much larger, you start needing legal kegs, having to pay tax and on and on it all goes.
Have a look at the excise alone on a 50L keg of say 5% ABV beer, at present its $35.15/L alcohol (less your 1.15%) so a 50L keg at 5% would have the equivalent of 50L @ 3.85% or 50*0.0385=1.925L at $35.15 per is $67.66, and its going up again on the 4th of February. Don't pay it and they will cheerfully put your arse in jail.

Have a long hard think about the costs and benefits!
Mark

 

[DU99]

go and contact a micro brewery's around the area they should be able to help you

 

[bbqzookeeper]

Have a look at the excise alone on a 50L keg of say 5% ABV beer, at present its $35.15/L alcohol (less your 1.15%) so a 50L keg at 5% would have the equivalent of 50L @ 3.85% or 50*0.0385=1.925L at $35.15 per is $67.66, and its going up again on the 4th of February. Don't pay it and they will cheerfully put your arse in jail.

Have a long hard think about the costs and benefits!
Mark

I think a 50L keg at 5% is 2.5 litres of alcohol. Therefore, 2.5 * 35.15 = $87.88 in tax.
However, if the retailer was charging $10 for a pint (570 ml pint), and with good pourers, they might get 75-80 of these out of the keg (have no idea on this). That means ~$800 in retail sales. Obviously then it becomes a larger equation of profit, paying staff, cooling and equipment maintenance, etc.

From what I've gleamed, you get into it for the love, not the money.

 

[MHB]

ATO would love you! You get a 1.15% discount on the alcohol content (compensation for GST - no tax on a tax...) but if you wanted to pay an extra $20(ish) per keg I'm sure they would let you.

 

[bbqzookeeper]

Ahh, missed this in the title "Alcohol rates – Beer (Excise duty on beer is payable on the alcohol content above 1.15% by volume in your finished product)".

Your reasoning makes sense too.

 

[Roosterboy]

I don't know Tasmanian Local Council Laws but here in NSW you would have to get a DA approval and jump through all the hoops they put up. For those reasons many breweries end up in industrial properties. Just mention the word Brewery around a residential estate and you will get people jumping up and down in protest as they think you will lower their home values. You would have no chance to get approval. So unless you live on a rural property or a winery at the moment, your site costs are going to increase dramatically.

 

[Schikitar]

I have read a bit online but am still unsure as there is a lot of contradicting information and not much information for Tasmania..

I live in Launceston as well, probably the most fun part would be getting anything built with local council approval as it seems unless you are are Joseph Chromy, Errol Stewart or one of the other big developers with dollars in pockets and friends in high places then getting something off the ground can be tough in this town. That said, I have flirted with the idea myself a few times as I think whilst Lonny has a couple great craft beer bars there are zero brewpubs. Wholesale/distribution is a world of pain, selling your own beer on your own taps and building a community around that, I feel, is the best way to do it.

Closer to home take a look at Hobart, there are a number of excellent brewpubs down there such as HBC, Last Rites, Shambles (personal fav), TBONE, Captain Bligh's, The Winston etc., and many more, yet in Launceston I struggle to name many breweries except for Van Dieman, OCHO (Stu Grant is a brewing genius and master coffee roaster!), Morrisons, Kick Snare etc., but none of them have a cellar door, they are all distribution - there's potentially an opportunity there. You're young and enthusiastic, which is awesome, but do your research and understand you'll need dollars, experience and a work ethic like no other!

Anyway, that's my immediate rambling thoughts, hit me up if you need an extra taster! What sort of stuff are you brewing and what sort of system have you been doing it on? Are you in the Lonny home brewers group on FB? Cheers!

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Good advice above, if you like a challenge, and you really, really, want to do it, a few obstacles wont stop you, as Schictar mentioned seems to be plenty of places in Tassie to get some advice.

 

[shacked]

Perhaps you can kick off by getting a local brewery to contract brew on your behalf. You give them the recipe and they brew and package your beer for a per keg fee. Sure, the margins are lower but this way you can [legally] test the market appetite for your product without all the investment in equipment and admin.

 

[Schikitar]

Perhaps you can kick off by getting a local brewery to contract brew on your behalf.

Morrisons and Van Diemen both do contract brewing in Launceston.. Last Rites, Shambles and HBC do it in Hobart, Buttons Brewery might do it on the north west coast and I think Iron House do on the east coast - there's some options.

 

[awfulknauful]

I think a lot of us would love to open a brewery or even a home brew store, be wary of being led by the heart or by the head.

 

[Outback]

I'd hate to open a brewery.
At the moment I can brew what I want, when I want, how I want and not give a toss. If I stuff up, no one gives a toss.
If I open a brewery, I don't brew again ever because I'm too busy running the business, or I spend the first 18 hours of the day running the business and the next 12 brewing. That would make great demands on my time.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Running any business will start off with long hours and hard work, until you can get a good team together and delegate. Run a tight ship, be FIRM on credit, and keep a close eye on stock, orders and staff.
If you can't make a lot money than you can working for someone else, don't even bother

 

[altone]

Running any business will start off with long hours and hard work, until you can get a good team together and delegate. Run a tight ship, be FIRM on credit, and keep a close eye on stock, orders and staff.
If you can't make a lot money than you can working for someone else, don't even bother

Yep been there done that (Not in brewing)
I made almost double the money I did working for someone else but was spending 16hrs a day EVERY day to do it!
8 hrs a day 5 a week doing the work and the rest - accounts, marketing, pr etc. etc.
Getting a couple of reasonable contractors to help grew the business a lot but the costs and non profitable work (ie. admin etc.) I had to do increased too.
I did get a decent price when I sold the business - enough to only have to work part time for the last 5 years.

If you've got the fire and a level head you could just be the next big thing though.

Remember that 60% of small businesses fail in the first 3 years and make plans that will keep you in the other 40%.

 

[TwoCrows]

The ABV % must be accurate and recorded, Taxation needs to know how much to money take from you and drivers need to know ABV% to self judge there drinking pre driving.

 

[TwoCrows]

Failure of small craft beer businesses is down to the capital $ needed. $1000,00 will get me going, $200,000 would be better . $ 500,000 more like it as a buffer

 

[///]

Perhaps you can kick off by getting a local brewery to contract brew on your behalf. You give them the recipe and they brew and package your beer for a per keg fee. Sure, the margins are lower but this way you can [legally] test the market appetite for your product without all the investment in equipment and admin.

Not truer words spoken .... Get a whole sale license and go contract

 

[David Bullen]

Hey guys, first post and am a new member!

I currently make my own homebrew beer, I have let a few friends taste my beer as well as a few bar owners who have really liked it and are wanting to be able to buy and/or sell my beer, so I was wondering what I would need to do to be able to do that legally? I have read a bit online but am still unsure as there is a lot of contradicting information and not much information for Tasmania...
I will be brewing under 100,000 liters a year. I am just unsure about how to go about it... Would I be able to have some help please? As I don't really want to receive a fine or anything.

Hi I have read most of the replies to your post so I was wondering if it was legal to have someone else supply me with the ingredients and I brew the beer and give the other person a dozen of the bottles. I keep the rest and no money changes hands?